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Palm oil prices have fallen some 49% from last year's record, but the tight supply means they are expected to stay above pre-pandemic levels. Another palm oil giant, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLKK.KL), told Reuters it plans to replant 10,000 hectares this year, up from a lower-than-usual 6,000 hectares in 2022. The scheme targeted replanting of 2.4 million hectares but only managed to replant around 278,000 hectares by February, partly due to land legality issues. We are ageing faster than we are replanting," Malaysia Palm Oil Association chief executive Joseph Tek told Reuters. In Malaysia, replanting costs doubled to around $4,500 per hectare after the pandemic inflated prices of fertiliser and labour.

☆ Boeing shares tumble as parts issue halts deliveries of some 737 MAXs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

April 14 (Reuters) - Boeing Co's (BA.N) shares fell 4.5% in premarket trading on Friday after the U.S. planemaker halted deliveries of some 737 MAXs due to a new supplier quality problem by Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N). Spirit, which manufactures fuselage, thrust reversers, engine pylons and wing components for the 737 MAX airplanes, slumped more than 11.7%. The latest quality issue pertains to aft fuselage fittings supplied by Spirit and is believed to date back to 2019, Boeing disclosed on Thursday. "We see more negative financial exposure to this news at Spirit than at Boeing," said J.P. Morgan analyst Seth Seifman. Boeing warned that the issue will likely affect a "significant" number of undelivered 737 MAX airplanes both in production and in storage, and could result in lowered 737 MAX deliveries in the near term.

WASHINGTON, April 13 (Reuters) - Boeing (BA.N) has stopped deliveries of some 737 MAXs as it grapples with a new supplier quality problem by Spirit AeroSystems (SPR.N) that could stretch back to 2019, the company disclosed on Thursday. The issue will likely affect a "significant" number of undelivered 737 MAX airplanes both in production and in storage, and could result in lowered 737 MAX deliveries in the near term, the company acknowledged. The company, which announced deliveries of 111 MAXs over the first quarter, had aimed to increase monthly MAX production rates from 31 to 38 by June. The FAA has closely scrutinized Boeing aircraft since two fatal plane crashes in 2018 and 2019. The FAA continues to inspect each 737 MAX and 787 aircraft before an airworthiness certificate is issued and cleared for delivery.

☆ Goldman recommends buying call options in these two tech titans before their earnings reports
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-13 | by ( Brian Evans | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Goldman Sachs recommends clients buy call options on Apple and Microsoft ahead of each company's earnings reports in two weeks. For Apple, Goldman thinks the mobile app spending portion of the company will beat Wall Street expectations and service revenue will become the main force behind earnings growth. "While app spending growth has slowed, as we lap recent benefits from consumer stimulus and engagement benefits due to the pandemic he expects app spending to resume mid-teens growth in F2024." AAPL YTD mountain Apple could beat expectations in mobile app spending and boost shares as investors look toward earnings, according to Goldman Sachs. "AI-related 12 April 2023 3 Goldman Sachs Weekly Options Watch workloads can also provide a boost to Azure over time.

☆ Taiwan's economic growth will decelerate to 2% this year, economist says
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-12 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailTaiwan's economic growth will decelerate to 2% this year, economist saysGary Ng of Natixis discusses the outlook for Taiwan's economy and explains why things will be more challenging for the island in the short run.

☆ Asia stocks rise on hopes regional central banks hold steady on rates
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Selena Li | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan (.MIAPJ0000PUS) rose 0.6% as trading resumed after a long holiday weekend in many major Asian markets. On Tuesday morning, South Korea's central bank held interest rates steady for a second consecutive meeting, as expected. Hong Kong stocks were tech sector gains, with the benchmark Hang Seng (.HSI) climbing 0.9%. The dollar index edged down by 0.098% to 102.36, while the Japanese yen weakened 0.15% versus the dollar to 133.4. In oil markets, U.S. crude gained 0.6% to $80.19 per barrel while Brent was at $84.65, also up 0.6%.

☆ Philippine c.bank may consider pausing rate rises if inflation slows
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, April 9 (Reuters) - The Philippine central bank may consider pausing its monetary tightening next month if April inflation does not accelerate, the bank's governor said on Sunday. Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Felipe Medalla said in a telephone message to Reuters that a pause in interest rate increases was possible "if the April CPI (consumer price index) is not higher than the March CPI". Medalla said a "zero or negative month-on-month inflation" may also support the case for a rate hike pause. Philippine headline inflation eased for a second consecutive month in March to 7.6% from 8.6% in February but it remained above the central bank's 2%-4% target for the year. To tackle inflation, the BSP has raised its benchmark interest rate (PHCBIR=ECI) by 425 basis points since May last year to 6.25%.

The incident took place in the city of Markham while the suspect, 28-year-old Sharan Karunakaran, was later arrested in Toronto, the York Regional Police said in a statement. Canadian Trade Minister Mary Ng condemned the incident and called it a hate crime, saying it had no place in Canadian society. Thousands of people attend the mosque at Markham. Police added they charged the suspect with uttering threats, assault with a weapon and dangerous driving. "This violence and Islamophobia has no place in our communities," the Canadian trade minister, who is a local member of parliament, said in a reaction to the incident.

☆ Canadian trade minister condemns hate crime at mosque
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 8 (Reuters) - Canada's Trade Minister Mary Ng condemned on Saturday a hate crime at mosque saying the incident, which an Islamic society said had apparently involved an attempt to tear a copy of the Muslim holy book, had no place in Canadian society. "Deeply disturbed to hear of the violent hate crimes and racist behaviour at the Islamic Society of Markham," Ng said in a post on Twitter. Muslims see any attempt to damage a Koran as blasphemous because they consider the Islamic holy book to be the literal word of God. The incident comes during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan, when worshippers throng to mosques. Thousands of people attend the mosque at Markham, the society said.

☆ Dominion Energy, National Grid pursuing pipeline sales - WSJ
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

April 6 (Reuters) - Utility firms Dominion Energy (D.N) and National Grid Plc (NG.L) are separately considering a potential sale of parts of their natural gas pipeline networks, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter. National Grid on the other hand is exploring a possible sale of part of its pipeline network serving the Northeastern U.S. Eliminating natural gas appliances would mean transitioning to electric equipment such as heat pumps. Dominion and National Grid's shares on the New York Stock Exchange were trading 0.4% and 1% higher, respectively. Dominion and National Grid declined to comment when contacted by Reuters.

Uwe Oppitz of Rhenus Ports, who speaks for Energy Hub Port Wilhelmshaven, said that Wintershall Dea (WINT.UL) (BASFn.DE), Uniper (UN01.DE) and Tree Energy Solutions (TES) plan to spend a total of more than 5 billion euros at Wilhelmshaven. Energy Hub Port Wilhelmshaven comprises 30 companies, which include E.ON (EONGn.DE), RWE (RWEG.DE) and Orsted (ORSTED.CO), as well as Wilhelmshaven's home state of Lower Saxony. "Wintershall Dea plans to invest around 1 billion euros in the Wilhelmshaven site together with its partners," it said. And steelmaker Salzgitter (SZGG.DE) has already struck a deal with Uniper to receive green hydrogen for its steel mill processes, replacing essential fossil-fuel produced hydrogen. "We don't want to push green hydrogen to the side.

However, confusing the picture core inflation accelerated to 8.0% in March from February's 7.8%, the fastest pace since 1999. Nicholas Mapa, an economist at ING bank, said a sustained downtrend in inflation could make the BSP consider hitting the pause button on its most aggressive interest rate hiking cycle for years. "Today's inflation reading could be one additional data point that could convince Governor Medalla that inflation is finally moderating," Mapa told Reuters. "We expect inflation to moderate further in April which could open up the door for a BSP pause at the May meeting." Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno, who is one of the seven members of the central bank's policy making monetary board, said on Tuesday, the central bank has probably done enough to address inflation.

☆ Former Greylock VC Sarah Guo is betting her career on the AI boom with new fund Conviction. Here's why.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Stephanie Palazzolo | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +8 min

Ex-Greylock GP Sarah Guo surprised the tech world when she launched her AI fund Conviction last year. In addition to her fund, Guo has gained prominence in SF's AI scene through her podcast and events. Kovalsky knew of only one person who could be behind this — Sarah Guo, then a general partner at VC firm Greylock. Within the tech community, Guo has differentiated herself from other VCs through her honesty, business savvy, and grit, they added. Although Guo launched Conviction, a $100 million fund investing up to Series A, in late 2022, her interest in artificial intelligence has been long in the making.

☆ Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Anvil, which helps businesses automate paperwork, used to raise $5 million from Craft Ventures and Alphabet's Gradient Ventures
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-03 | by ( Melia Russell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

It raised an additional $5 million for its Series A round from Craft Ventures and Gradient Ventures. Insider has an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Anvil used to raise the new funds. Three years ago, he set out to raise fresh capital for his startup, Anvil, which helps businesses create documents from data. In 2020, Craft Ventures heard Ng's pitch and passed. Here's an exclusive look at the pitch deck that Anvil used to raise an additional $5 million:

☆ UBS Brings Back Sergio Ermotti as CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Serena Ng | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

Sergio Ermotti in Switzerland last year. UBS Group AG said its former leader Sergio Ermotti will return as chief executive, as the Swiss banking giant moves into a new era with its takeover of Credit Suisse Group AG. Mr. Ermotti, who previously ran UBS for nine years, will start on April 5 after the bank’s annual general meeting, it said.

☆ How to write a cover letter in 5 minutes, says Harvard career expert: 'It's professional Mad Libs'
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( Gili Malinsky | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

"A cover letter is like a written introduction of yourself," says Gorick Ng, a Harvard career advisor and author of "The Unspoken Rules." He creates a basic cover letter template including all of the key talking points, then leaves out components like the HR representative he'd address and the specific company he's applying for. Going forward, he simply plugs in the relevant information and saves each cover letter as a new document. "It's professional Mad Libs," he says, adding that, "It takes me, what? Five, max 10 minutes to do a new cover letter" each time.

☆ The Bank of Japan will probably act 'relatively independently' of the Fed, analyst says
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-29 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailThe Bank of Japan will probably act 'relatively independently' of the Fed, analyst saysJeff Ng of MUFG Bank discusses how the Japanese yen might be affected by market volatility in the event of another U.S. Federal Reserve interest rate hike.

☆ Alibaba to split into six units
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

March 28 (Reuters) - Alibaba Group Holding Ltd (9988.HK) said it plans split its business into six main units covering e-commerce, media and the cloud, adding that each of the units will explore fundraising or initial public offerings. STUART COLE, HEAD MACRO ECONOMIST AT EQUITI CAPITAL, LONDON"I am not sure how quickly Alibaba could be broken up. To me, it suggests something that Alibaba has been wanting to do for some time, but has been waiting for the opportunity to do so." With this expectation, investors will be more positive on Alibaba. It may reflect a new round of development for the business and reduce worries of regulatory issues."

☆ SVB deal helps to steady banks amid credit crunch concerns
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

The sudden collapse of tech-focussed SVB earlier this month destabilised the sector and drew some of Europe's biggest banking names into investors' focus. In March, the Stoxx index of European bank shares .SX7P is down more than 18% and the U.S. KBW regional bank index .KRX has lost 21%, with investors on edge about what's next. In Europe, bank bonds are under pressure and credit default swaps, or the cost of insurance against defaults, uneasily high. First Citizens said it would take on assets of $110 billion, deposits of $56 billion and loans of $72 billion, and expand in California. It will share further potential losses with the FDIC and the FDIC retains some $90 billion in securities held for disposal.

☆ 4 content creators launched a camping experience. Here's the 25-page deck they used to get brand partners like Shopify.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Marta Biino | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

In 2022, four creators launched Creator Camp, an in-person camping event for influencers. Here's the pitch deck they used to secure over $200,000 in sponsorships from brands. They put together a plan for Creator Camp, a three-day camping experience meant for creators to make friends, explore their creativity, and "do well by doing good," Duncan said. "It was really tough to get sponsors, but we were able to get about $30,000 to float the first event," Duncan said. Here's the 25-page pitch deck the creators used to convince brand partners to sponsor Creator Camp:

☆ Philippine minister says pause in rate rises likely at next bank meeting
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MANILA, March 26 (Reuters) - Philippines Finance Secretary Benjamin Diokno said on Sunday he believed that the central bank was leaning towards a pause in interest rate rises at its next monetary policy meeting scheduled for May. "Non-monetary measures to ease inflation could address the problem more effectively", including those already adopted by fiscal authorities, Diokno said in a statement. The Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas' decided on Thursday to continue fighting inflation with a rate increase, although at the slower pace of 25 basis points (bps) to 6.25% (PHCBIR=ECI). And monetary policy is not the only game in town. Besides ... monetary policy works with a long lag," said Diokno, who sits as a member of the seven-man monetary board of the central bank.

NEW YORK, March 24 (Reuters) - A U.S. judge on Friday ordered former Goldman Sachs Group Inc (GS.N) banker Roger Ng to forfeit $35.1 million, after sentencing him to 10 years in prison for helping loot billions of dollars from Malaysia's 1MDB sovereign wealth fund. Jho Low, a Malaysian financier and suspected mastermind of the scheme, was also indicted but remains at large. Goldman settled with authorities in October 2020, agreeing to pay $2.9 billion and having its Malaysian unit plead guilty to a corruption charge. Former Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak is serving a 12-year prison sentence after being convicted in a Malaysian court of receiving $10 million from a former 1MDB unit. Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jonathan Stempel in New York; Editing by Richard ChangOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ I added the 'scary hour' hack to my mornings. My ability to focus shot up and so did my productivity — here's how it works
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( Robin Madell | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

He said the "scary hour" productivity hack helps him complete his most daunting task each day. My best productivity hack is popularly referred to as the "scary hour" — one hour where you tackle the most daunting but impactful task on your plate. But defining your top priority can be tricky, which is why I prefer to call it "scary hour" rather than "golden hour" as some people do. One of my "block sets" in LeechBlock ensures that I can't browse email, social media, my investment portfolio, or other distractions during scary hour. I use a Notion Habit Tracker to log what I completed during scary hour each day, which helps me stay accountable to my scary hour tasks.

☆ We've done 'almost enough' to manage inflation, says Philippine central bank governor
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailWe've done 'almost enough' to manage inflation, says Philippine central bank governorFelipe Medalla, governor of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas, says it's waiting for one or two more "good data points" on inflation in the country.

☆ Singapore core inflation steady at 5.5%, focus on April policy review
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-23 | by ( Chen Lin | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

February's core inflation rate - which excludes private road transport and accommodation costs - compared with a forecast in a Reuters poll of economists for a 5.8% increase in February. However, the inflation rate in February is still at the same level as in January, which was the fastest pace seen since November, 2008. MAS has said core inflation was likely to stay at about 5% for the early part of 2023. It has also projected a core inflation rate of between 3.5% to 4.5% in 2023, with headline inflation coming in at between 5.5% and 6.5%. While analysts said inflation in February was below their forecasts, there were divisions over the implications for a monetary policy review MAS will conduct in April.

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